This invention relates to equipment and processes for processing and packaging fresh fish or poultry or meat to retard deterioration and promote extended shelf life.
Fish, poultry and meat products are commonly processed from catch or slaughter to market distribution in cold or frozen condition to retard the rate of decay of the product attributable to microorganisms present in the product. Extended shelf lives for such products commonly result from maintaining the products in frozen conditions during final processing, packaging, distribution and display. However, for such products that are not conducive to processing, packaging, distribution or display in frozen condition, icing down or otherwise refrigerating such products to cool, non-frozen condition is an alternative procedure that attains some extension of shelf life though not as extensively as in frozen condition. However, frozen product once thawed and non-frozen product commonly deteriorate rapidly out of an iced or refrigerated environment, attributable to microorganisms present on the surface of the product as well as within the product that remain present from initial processing and that are capable of rapid proliferation at elevated temperatures. In contrast to fresh produce that may be harvested in the field or orchard or vineyard and that is inherently immune from deterioration at the moment of harvest, fleshy products of fish, poultry and meat are notoriously more prone to rapid deterioration from the moment of catch or slaughter.
In accordance with the present invention, fish, poultry and meat products are initially processed through a series of diverse environments that tend to cycle the respiration rates of the product and significantly diminish the internal and surface concentrations of pathogens which affect decay of the product at elevated temperatures. The resultant product exhibits extended shelf life, even after freezing and thawing, and appealing marketability for enhanced product sales with reduced losses over longer processing, distribution and retailing intervals.